TPiR Recap - 7/4/2014 (TPiR 4th of July Salute to the Military)

[brosa0]

I actually thought Dice Game was the highlight of this show.   It could've easily ended in tears but going higher on a 4 and getting it right was a bigger surprise than an easy PTR set up (although that was still exciting too)!!

[goldroadfanatic]

My jaw dropped when Pay the Rent was won.  I was not expecting the nasal strips to be that high in price, and when $14.99 was revealed, the chatroom exploded.

Also, the fact that Pay the Rent helped create a perfect show is nothing short of amazing.

The flags on the X's in Secret "X" were a nice touch.  Also, thankfully the secret X was in the middle, and Yu lucked out, creating a perfect first half.

Dice Game and Pick-a-Number were nerve-racking to watch.  Especially Dice Game-when Matthew went against the odds on the third number, I feared he'd lose.  However, as thepriceis_J said in chat, "Someone up there really likes us."  Also, this was probably the most exciting Pick-a-Number ever in the history of the show.  It was clearly set up to be won, but it was still tense to see if Tiffany would pick the two or not.

The showcases were well-done.  The patriotic theme was appropriate, and kudos to the staff for dusting off "Passing Lane" for the bonus prize in showcase #2. 

Only one more show to go and we'll conclude what is one of the best seasons in years.

[Mallory16]

I get 14 possible winning combinations for Pay the Rent.  I think 15 is the highest possible number of winning combinations no matter what products are used, so that was one really player-friendly setup today.

[tpirfan28]

I used to frequent the chat and site for years but have dropped off lately.  I watched today and jumped into chat.  It was brought to my attention that every time I enter chat now, Pay the Rent is played.

I was okay with the result today.

[Shaymin]

I don't know where this sudden burst of end-of-season generosity came from - $20k trips in Bullseye, $30k SUVs in winnable More or Less setups - but this is truly a special episode. Curse my DVR for not recording it...

I didn't expect Pay the Rent to get won for another three years, and would have bet money that we'd be into season 90 before Pay the Rent happened on a perfect show. Winnable or not, remember it was a similar show in 2010 that had Pay the Rent nailed and the contestant walked, so double-digit combos or no it still wasn't a cinch that they'd get the money. Kudos to the Peanut Gallery for making Kevin press on for the win.

About the only group who should be disappointed today is the Navy, since they didn't have anyone called down until #9 if I'm reading the results right.

[Kyle]

First off, hooray for the perfect show - the first time since Drew's first season to have more than one perfect show in a single season! Hooray for a $100,000 win in Pay the Rent! I will also say that this is how a "special" should be done. Easy set-ups, trot out one of the big giveaway games (Pay the Rent, in this case, though I would have preferred Triple Play or Golden Road) and a lot of winning.

There were a couple of minor details that stood out for me, though. First, why weren't the contestants wearing their name tags today? We've had military specials before where they had them with no problem - why all of a sudden are they not used today? That being said, I hated how the contestants' names were on the one-bid displays and the showcase podiums. I hope that doesn't become a permanent change in the new season. It just doesn't look right. As a one off thing for today, I can accept it, but, it's something they shouldn't have had to do because the audience should have been wearing their name tags like they have been for 42 years.

Also, the main theme was sorely missed today. I can get onboard with them having the marine corps band play during the introductions and the end credits (we've seen it before), but, the main theme should have been used into the commercial breaks today. The Pay the Rent win especially needed that celebratory Price is Right theme song instead of the band playing non-TPIR music. There were also one or two instances where the contestants had won, the bells were dinging and there was no music before the band finally started playing. It just sounded off.

Two-prize showcases again? I thought they were getting fewer and far between.

But, overall, an excellent way to close out season 42... yes, I know there's one more show to go because they insist on doing that "Back to School" special in the middle of August now (instead of doing it the first week of September which would make more sense)... but, this is the last show before the summer reruns. For my money, this was the season finale.

[Tanzerey8]

A perfect show? That's outstanding, and only sweetened more with a Pay The Rent win!  As was stated by Frank15, there were 14 winning combinations. Those nasal strips blew the door wide open!

I will say that Dice Game and Pick-a-Number were nail biters,  but luck was definitely on the sides of the contestants.
Also, is it just me, or is a Camaro Convertible now 3 Strikes worthy? I could only think the trip and tickets to the All-Star Game would be around 12~13k at most.

Overall it was very entertaining, and I guess that's all for a while, but what a way to finish!

[Guint]

I'll be honest, I have not watched this show. I only have seen what is shown here in the thread.

But what I have seen is that Pay the Rent is one horrible, miserable excuse of a game. Today's playing was pathetically easy. Several combinations had the cheapest item in the mailbox (gee, where was that in Seasons 39 and 40?). You could've ordered them from least to most expensive and still won! (Holy good lord, that's ridiculous)

It seems to me that both times that Rent was won has proven that game cannot be won unless it's made ridiculously easy. And that's BAD.

It also makes the game look incredibly unfair, which, the fact that the number of correct solutions keeps changing with every playing, it IS pretty unfair.

Though, hey look, perfect show, not bad...no theme at all today? NO NAME TAGS? What is this blasphemy?

[jaydlewis]

There were a couple of minor details that stood out for me, though. First, why weren't the contestants wearing their name tags today?

The last(?) military special, the Marines were not allowed to wear name tags (uniform protocol or some such, it came from on high at any rate). Pretty simple (and elegant IMO) fix in the digital age.

And before anyone asks, no I don't know why it became an issue only recently.

[thepriceis_J]

This is the first military special I have watched in some time. Is this the first time the contestants did not wear name tags?

I believe so - after first looking and wondering why their names were on the bidding screens, it made sense that they were there because they didn't have name tags.

First, why weren't the contestants wearing their name tags today? We've had military specials before where they had them with no problem - why all of a sudden are they not used today?

Yeah, just hopping onto what Jay said. This is not the first time that the audience wasn't wearing nametags. I forgot who said it, but as Jay said, the first time it happened, supposedly some head Marine disapproved of the extra signage added to the uniform. Like Jay said, it is unknown why this suddenly became a problem. My guess is either someone talked to someone higher up or there was a change in command amongst the person/persons who makes that decision. It was very confusing the first time it happened as keeping up with everyone became slightly difficult. I think the names on the one-bid displays is a nice quick fix for this situation. I doubt they'd ditch the nametags all together for this new system though because they're just as iconic to the show as "Come on Down!"

Wow. What a show. This was definitely a great way to close out the regular season!

While it was kind of insane how easy Pay the Rent was, most of us didn't know how easy it was. I thought the strips were money, but not $15 money. The win, while forced, was a surprise to many of us and that's what made this great. It was also nice to see Rent 3rd. A rare slot outside of its usual comfort zone of first and second.

Dice Game was certainly a nail-bitter. I thought for sure Dice Game was against the perfect show campaign. Somehow, the odds were with him and he pulled out the win.

That's two, count 'em, two perfect shows in one season. After the long drought, what a way to snap it.

[Kyle]

In regards to the lack of name tags, fair enough then, I suppose.

[catdogwheel]

You know what's better than a perfect show, a perfect show with a FREAKIN PAY THE RENT WIN!

Amen to that! Those are two events that I'm sure no PiR fan would ever hear in the same sentence.

[mrbrown2195]

The last(?) military special, the Marines were not allowed to wear name tags (uniform protocol or some such, it came from on high at any rate). Pretty simple (and elegant IMO) fix in the digital age.

And before anyone asks, no I don't know why it became an issue only recently.

It was indeed the Marines that disapproved of the name tags in the last military special. I'd say either the producers said "let everybody be uniform" or the other branches of the military decided to copy the Corps. I'd go with the latter.

/son of a marine

[Eddie]

A perfect show, both showcases having an automobile and a $100,000 winner?  Quite some fireworks there. 

By far this was the best 6-win show in a long time, given the big payout.

If You want to take it to the next level, 6-win show plus DSW someday.  Imagine that...

[tnpir2014]

On the subject of name tags:

Military servicemembers have VERY strict regulations governing their appearance, and that doesn't just mean the uniform.  (There are even regs that dictate whether you have to stay clean-shaven even off duty, for example.)  When I saw the name tags on the military specials they've done previously, I just assumed that they'd been granted exceptions--whether or not that's the case, I can tell you that all it takes is the wrong person seeing something like that for every single Marine (or Soldier, or Sailor--yes, those are supposed to be capitalized) to get in trouble.  I know it sounds a bit silly, but that really is how it works.

In this case, based on what I've read here, it sounds like someone simply objected to PiR's nametags as unauthorized alterations to the uniform.  I'm surprised at that given the circumstances, since far as I'm concerned all the Marines that have ever been at the show represented the Corps well, but that's just my opinion.